Comment: Solidarity in the face of tragedy
At the end of September I had the privilege of attending the African Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) in Nairobi, Kenya — the African sister event of the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in Dubai.
I went there a day early, hoping to join the safari in the Nairobi National Park that was the main pre-event ‘jolly.’ It was cancelled, however, due to the horrendous events at the Westgate Shopping Mall, where 61 innocent people were killed and 200 wounded by the Al Shabaab Islamic extremists, in revenge for the Kenyan army’s support of the legitimate Somali government.
One of the conference speakers very sadly lost his wife and daughter in the siege, while a friend of mine from Abu Dhabi said his sister thankfully escaped after spending three terrifying hours under a checkout desk in the mall’s supermarket.
As fate would have it, instead of photographing lions and giraffes, I ended up listening to a soundtrack of live gunfire and RPG explosions, up in my room at a luxury hotel just across a car park from the mall.
The view from my window was the same as the one showing on my TV, because the BBC and other media networks had set up their cameras on the rooftop pool deck of the same hotel! While of course I was safely distanced from the whole attack (that was the day of the main Kenyan army assault to re-take the mall), it was a little unnerving after my quiet life in the Gulf.
What really brought it home to me was the way the army cleared the street right outside my hotel of bystanders (who had been warned in the morning newspapers to keep clear).
They did so by driving their army truck down the street and shooting in the air, causing instant pandemonium and needless to say, effectively achieving rapid evacuation without uttering a word!
It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that I was in the hotel lobby planning to take a taxi, the front door was open, the gun was very loud and the whole place filled with the smell of cordite. I also happened to be on the phone to my wife, reassuring her that I was fine, when the shooting started, so she was not convinced.
Industry Impact
As a result of these events, the first morning of the conference was quite an emotional affair, with many expressions of solidarity with the Kenyans, not least from WTTC President & CEO David Scowsill, who flew to Nairobi especially to address the forum in the face of the tragedy.
“It is important that the travel industry supports Kenya at this difficult time,” he said.
“There is... speculation that this attack will affect tourism to Kenya. My message to you today is that it cannot.”
HE Phyllis Kandie, Cabinet Secretary at the Kenyan Ministry of East Africa, Commerce and Tourism, assured the 403 delegates at the event that “…this was an isolated case; the rest of the city and country is functioning normally, and the mall attack should not alarm anyone wishing to invest in or travel to Kenya.”
In the end, the conference that the organisers were at one point thinking of cancelling turned out to be a beacon of positive messages from across Africa’s 54 countries, as well as from enthusiastic hoteliers, investors and travel and tourism professionals from around the world.
Several speakers focused on the excellent condition of many African economies, with GDP growth rates far in excess of anything in Europe (many over 6%).
Analysts focused on the many countries in which post-war reconstruction and new exploitation of mineral resources from oil to diamonds was creating major investment opportunities, as well as much increased consumer spending by a growing middle class.
Such factors spelled excellent opportunities for hotel investors and international hotel chains alike, as many countries were undersupplied with branded properties (STR noted 19 countries in which there were none).
High rooms demand combined with an undersupply of rooms had caused cities such as Lagos in Nigeria and Luanda in Angola to boast some of the highest ADRs in the world, with the former resting at number two spot after Paris (and ahead of Dubai at No 3), with an ADR of US $277.
About the Author:
Guy Wilkinson is a director of Viability, a hospitality and property consulting firm in Dubai. For more information, email: guy@viability.ae